Monday, September 14, 2009

We had almost a whole empty weekend planned. Two events marked our calendar - soccer game at 9 am on Saturday, monthly family dinner at 1 on Sunday. But on Saturday morning we decided to watch our two younger granddaughters over-night (one is 5 and one is 3)...

so instead of cleaning the house I went to the store to stock up on their favorite foods and spent time making sure all my vintage Fisher Price was at the ready for their little imaginations.

And instead of heading out to dinner on Saturday night we gathered up the little girls and two of our neighbors and rolled through the quiet residential streets in my husbands old Jeepster ... warm breeze blowing, stars overhead, little girls laughing and chattering...

And instead of watching some taped movies we read books and cuddled and ate rice krispies ...

And we were all tucked into bed before 9 pm.

Sunday morning I had planned to start painting the kitchen but I thought "gee, I really need to clean" and my ironing was way behind (yes, I still iron) and I had book orders to pack and fabric kits to get ready for a show my friend is doing for me back in Ohio and the biography I am writing about my Dad needs work and, and, and....

but instead we swam in the pool, and ate french toast, and I layed on the couch and watched Sleeping Beauty and "protected" little girls from the witch...and I watched them play in the big bathtub until they raisined up and my husband and I laughed as they ran up and down the hall drying off with the breeze of their speed instead of with towels and no painting and no packing got done...

And when their parents picked them up we agreed that we would come right back from my parents after dinner so we could both get caught up...

but instead we stayed longer talking and eating...

and then one of our sons and his girlfriend came back to the house with the intent of staying "just for a few minutes" and we said we would catch up as soon as they went home ...

but instead they stayed for hours and we talked about my husbands childhood and I told them about living with my Grandmother when I was in my teens with no running water or bathroom in the house and we discussed burial vs. cremation and the pain of life and laying tile and cockroaches (of course, sigh) and when we reluctantly waved goodbye to them...

we had done nothing on our to-do lists for the weekend. Nothing.

But I think we got the way better side of the list. The list of things that didn't get done.

4 comments:

Sounds like you were busy making memories to me, I can't begin to tell you how important that is. After I began to make myself sick about moving out on time I asked myself "have I ever NOT gotten it all done before?" It's true we get it done, we find a way even if we are fighting fire with fire, we get it all done.